Download

Getting gem5

The latest gem5 source code (including the encumbered files) is available via our Git repository host at https://gem5.googlesource.com. It is strongly recommend that you get a copy of gem5 by using git. You can get more info about the repository and git here. In additional to the main git repository, there is a mirror on GitHub (we can't currently accept pull requests on GitHub) and a Mercurial mirror. Keep in mind that the mirrors are read only. New code can only be submitted to the main git repository.

Official git repository

Steps for getting a copy of the source code:

Install git. This is available in the git package on Ubuntu and Redhat and OS X macports or home-brew.

After you clone the repository you can update it by typing hg pull and hg update.

TAR dumps

If you want to download gem5 without installing Mercurial, you can get a tarball. But it will be more difficult to merge in changes when you need to update to new version. Tagged stable versions can be downloaded from GitHub.

Useful Software not in git

Full-System Stuff

You would need one or more of the following files to full system simulations using gem5. If you download these files, read this page for instructions on how to install these files.

ARM

ARM Full-System Files -- Pre-compiled kernel and disk images for 32-bit and 64-bit ARM simulation. Updated October 2014. There kernels all support PCIe devices and the 64-bit kernels support >2GB of DRAM.

Legacy ARM Full System Files -- A collection of previous ARM files that have been distributed. Anyone getting started with ARM and gem5 should use the above link.

Pre-compiled Cross-compilers

Externally supplied cross compilers:

Ubuntu users can simply install ARM compilers with the crossbuild-essential-armhf and libc6-dev-armhf-armel-cross packages for 32-bit ARM and crossbuild-essential-arm64 and libc6-dev-arm64-cross for 64-bit ARM.